


About as Bashful as a Tribal Dance

by FiliTheLionKing (IAmYourWatson)



Series: Dangerous Animals [2]
Category: The Hobbit RPF
Genre: Aidan can't say no to Dean's puppy dog eyes, Bastardization of the Romulus and Remus story, Dean misses pack life a little, Lupercalia, M/M, Mentions of sex and mating, Pack Dynamics (mentioned), Pagan Festivals, Ritual Dance, Rituals, Werewolf Holiday, Werewolf!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 01:27:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmYourWatson/pseuds/FiliTheLionKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after Aidan rescued Dean from a dark alleyway and certain death, the two are a mated pair, living together in the big city of London. While they do have a few friends (all of whom were Aidan's friends to begin with), Dean misses the social part of pack life, and the biggest holiday of the wolf shifter year is coming up: Lupercalia, the fertility festival and the celebration of the birth of Romulus and Remus, the first wolf shifters. Dean wants to go join one of the many bonfires happening around the city, but Aidan is reluctant to go, mostly because he doesn't see the holiday as all that important. But in the end, he can't say no to Dean's puppy eyes and solid argument, so they both attend a bonfire held at the distant edge of London's suburbs.</p><p>The magic of the night is thick. Grandmother moon smiles down on her grandchildren as they feast and dance. Songs are sung, ancient dialects reawakened, and wine flows as freely as blood from a kill. </p><p>Lupercalia has begun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	About as Bashful as a Tribal Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, welcome, my friends! Here's the next installment of Dangerous Animals! This one's set well into the future, so obviously my timeline isn't exactly gonna be linear in future posts. Dean misses pack life, and Aidan eventually obliges by participating in this ritual feast and dance. Lots of mentions of sexytimes, but none in this one, I'm afraid! You'll get your porn soon, ya perverts! ;P As always, comments and critiques are more than welcome; in fact, I'll go out there and beg you for them unless you give me some! Feed the lion!

Lupercalia, as celebrated by the werewolves, is a little bit different from what most people know it as. While historians note it as an ancient pagan festival of fertility, which involved a lot of nude running around, the sacrificing of various animals, and praise of the gods, werewolves celebrate the birthing of the first werewolves, Romulus and Remus, and pray for the continuance of their species, namely for the continued fertility of the she-wolves.

When historians and poets wrote that Romulus and Remus, the boys who were suckled by a she-wolf and eventually founded the city of Rome, they were politely kept in the dark about the fact that being raised by a wolf somehow turned the two boys into the first shifters of their kind. So, on the Ides of February, the wolf shifters gather around bonfires and dance long into the night, drinking wine and eating good food and generally debauching themselves until the sun rises. Many pups are sired on that night, obviously, since most of the females will go into heat at some point during the evening. 

 

Aidan, being a natural-born shifter, knew of the Lupercalia festival, and had often celebrated it as a kid (the more PG version that was held in the very early evening, before the kids were sent inside before the adults made fools of themselves late into the night). He fondly remembered his uncles getting drunk, his aunts tutting in disappointment as the men stumbled around, and the kids getting all kinds of treats as the sky grew darker and darker. The fires were bright and the music was loud and rustic, and it was one of the few times that he saw country wolves mingle with city wolves and no fights started.

Still, he hadn’t celebrated the holiday in over ten years, ever since he grew into adolescence. He had no use for the hormone-filled rut-fest that it devolved into, and he had no intentions of starting a family young like his parents did. Dean, however, had participated in Lupercalia festivals ever since he was a mere pup himself, and he’d only missed out on the last two because he was cast out just before the first one, and during the second he had come down with a sweating sickness of some sort, which Aidan called the flu, and they’d both been to busy keeping Dean from having to go to the hospital to even notice the passage of days.

The country shifter was still learning the ins-and-outs of modern society; his particular pack had lived so deep in the woods of England that they were incredibly backwards, as Aidan had callously put it once. Sure, they had a few pickup trucks, and a few radios and modern appliances, along with (thankfully) running water and bathrooms, but beyond that they were practically stuck in 1930’s at the latest. They refused to go into town for anything other than a few groceries or gas, and they didn’t trust the human doctors to keep their secrets. Dean’s education was poor at best, reading and writing and a basic grasp of math and weather forecasting being about his only real schooling. Aidan was slowly teaching him to be a modern man, and luckily, Dean was an excellent, even avid student. He could read at a college-level now, and he could easily use the internet, desktop computers, even smartphones like any modern teenager could. Now, though, that he wasn’t sick or frighteningly alone, he wanted to bring back some of the old, soothing traditions of his former pack.

Aidan didn’t like this one bit.

"But it’s Lupercalia, Aid! The most important festival of our people!" The blonde argued for the fiftieth time that week, with only a few days left until the holiday. Already there was rumor in the city werewolf community of a few small bonfires that would be lit in some of the more distant parks of London, out of the way and in the farthest suburbs where they wouldn’t be disturbed. Dean desperately wanted to go and be with other wolves on that night, but he was having a hard time convincing his lover to feel the same way.

"Aye, I know t’at, don’ y’think y’ve been tellin’ me fer the last six hours!" Aidan’s thick Irish accent was a sign of just how done he was with this conversation. Usually, the ever-sensitive Dean would pick up on this and either back down and bare his stomach in some way (which he was finally getting out of the habit of doing, thanks to much saddened help from Aidan) or he would try to diffuse the argument in some way until an agreement was reached. This time, though, he was asserting his independence, and he wasn’t going to give up until he got what he wanted. Aidan was beginning to see this now. 

"And I will keep telling you, Aidan Turner, until you either agree to go with me, or your ears fall off from how often I’m yelling into them!" Dean growled, baring his teeth in a challenge. Aidan answered it, his own canines elongating as he partially changed, his claws coming out. Aidan was a natural-born alpha, and if he’d been in a country pack, he’d have been a contender for the top ranking amongst the shifters. Still, Dean, calling on hidden reserves of strength he sometimes forgot he had, didn’t back down from the waves of dominance rolling off the taller man, and he could see Aidan begin to slowly back down. He was winning.

"Look, love, this isn’t exactly like going to the dentist to have every single one of your teeth get pulled out with no pain medication!" He’d only learned that last week, but still, it was a good metaphor. "All we have to do is go for an hour at the most, dance around the fire, make some friends, something, as long as it’s with  _others_. Please, Aid, I…I miss being in a pack.” He saw a soft look of hurt in the Irishman’s eyes, and he quickly backtracked. “No, no, Aidan, we’ve had this conversation, I’m not going back! I just…I’m a social shifter, Aid, I didn’t grow up like you did, easily independent of others. You’re all that I  _need_ , yes, but I  _want_  friends too. You already have James and Richard and Lee, but I don’t have anyone here whom I haven’t met through you. I just…I want to make some friends, be among other wolves, especially since all our other friends are on vacation this year.” 

The blonde’s pleading blue eyes held Aidan’s, and the city shifter began to feel his walls coming down. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Dean, absolutely nothing; he was his mate, the light of his life, and if making Dean happy meant spending time among strange wolves, then he would do so, for Dean. After all, they were mated, it wasn’t like anyone was going to steal away his blonde ray of sunshine from underneath his nose and claim him. Maybe that was the root of Aidan’s problem; he wasn’t a cruel man, or even a jealous one, but when a wolf chose his mate, he grew suspicious of any who would dare come close to his partner who he didn’t already know wasn’t a threat. He knew Dean often felt the same way, but since the man was much softer by nature, Dean expressed his possessiveness through less obvious ways. The brunet sighed and leaned back against the kitchen wall, having been in the middle of making himself tea when Dean had accosted him again.

"…Just one hour?" He asked quietly, rubbing his forehead as he looked over at Dean. The blonde’s smile could light up a room, and it didn’t disappoint this time. Aidan felt himself start smiling against his will; even though he knew Dean didn’t need to be coddled, nor did the man want any unnecessary pampering, it always pleased Aidan when he could do those kinds of things for his mate. 

"Yeah, just one hour, thank you, Aid!" The Irishman soon found himself with an armful of smiling werewolf, and he found that it was quite a pleasant sensation. The tea stood long-forgotten on the counter as Dean expressed just how happy he was with Aidan.

——————————————————

The sun had just set beyond the horizon, the sky a dark, dark blue as the stars came out of hiding. A large bonfire blazed in the center of a park just outside of the London city limits, surrounded by wolves of all kinds. There were country wolves, city wolves, loners and families, all there to celebrate the birthing of their race. Dean felt at home in a way he hadn’t been able to find until now. He wasn’t unhappy with Aidan, far from it, but this…this felt  _right_. Standing across to his mate, awaiting the first light of the north star to be sighted, he found peace. Ancient magic permeated the air, the smell of burning wood, fresh meat, and heady wine filled the cool air.

It was thankfully warm for a February night, and no snow had fallen in a few weeks, so the ground was dry and clean. Grass prickled beneath Dean’s bare feet, his wolf shifter blood making him warmer than the average human, and the chill didn’t affect him one bit. He’d finally made some new friends: a city wolf named Adam, a sweet man, and his mate, a country wolf called Graham, who’d come from a pack not unlike Dean’s, and Martin, who, along with his wife and kids, had already said goodbye as they headed home for the night, the children too young for the true festivities. The former country wolf felt a sense of calm and peace settle over him, the deep breath before the storm. A soft glow of elation filled his heart too; he had a pack now, as ramshackle and patchwork as it was, and he had a mate, a good, strong mate who loved him beyond all that Dean had ever dreamed of. Life was good, and his heart was complete. 

The drums sounded. 

The pipes blew their first notes. 

A susurration of wind and soft voices.

The Dance of Lupercalia had begun.

Slowly, the wolves around the bonfire swayed in a dance handed down from generation to generation, all the way back to Romulus and Remus. The men howled and the women snarled, the drums beating a rapid tattoo as pipes and voices raised to the sky, the words from a forgotten dialect spinning into the night in praise of the ancient gods and primeval magics. Feral gleams pierced the darkness of the night as each wolf eyed the others, assessing, watching, looking for the signs of a good mate. The mated wolves simply caught the gazes of their lovers and bared their necks in a sign of trust and love. An elder howled, and as one, they moved. 

The steps were more like stomps at first, bodies hunched over like wolves stalking their prey. They were the firstborn, hiding beneath their mother, raised in a cave away from the cruelties of man. The movements were almost clumsy, like a baby learning their first steps, then they became smoother as the dancers straightened more and more. Now they were adolescents, feeling the first calls to mate, to dance under the moon, to go out and build themselves a home away from the pack. Those who already had children snarled and growled, daring the world to hurt their young ones as they left the den, while the younger wolves howled to the moon, declaring for all to hear that they were ready to fight for their rightful places on this earth. The drums began beating faster and faster.

Arms were raised as all stood fully upright, heads thrown back and teeth bared to the sky as they slowly revolved around the fire, grown wolves who were now ready to mate, to fight, to build, to run. Without any verbal cues, the men moved one way while the women moved the other, circling the fire in opposite directions, weaving in and out of each other like dancers at a maypole. Eyes assessed and looked for faults as they all looked for a mate or a challenger to their rightful claims. Aidan and Dean never passed each other, and the looks they gave the women were ones of challenge, signifying that they were taken and had no need for a new mate. Some of them met their challenge, but most of the men and women there were unmated and eager to find a partner. 

More and more voices raised into the air as the dancing became increasingly frantic, feet moving in intricate patterns as the revelers whirled around the fire and around each other. The scent of desire and arousal lay thick over the air, thicker than the spoke pouring off of the fire. The tension could be cut with a knife. Flushed cheeks and sweat-dampened hair contrasted with steely eyes and pearly-white teeth. Men and women howled and screamed and cried out to the moon, their grandmother, their elder, and praised their mother wolf in the forgotten speech of the firstborn shifters. The magic was cast, the bodies of the dancers hot and sweaty and tense, and the fire blazed a bright blue for an instant, and then was gone, down to a soft, cheery glow as the music stopped.

Dean blinked, clearing his dazed head to find himself in Aidan’s arms, the brunet holding him close and steady. The city wolf was breathing heavily, like all the other dancers, but his piercing gaze was focused solely on the blonde in his arms, sweat on his brow and lust in his eyes. The Dance was complete, their mother and the firstborn honored again for another year. Dimly, he was aware of the other shifters either starting the music up once again, this time a cheery but more sedate melody, or heading off into the woods or to their cars, to find someplace quiet and private to mate or fuck. Food was served to those who’d participated in the dance but had no interest in sex, and wine was flowing as freely as the blood in Dean’s body. But he had no interest in anything but the man looking down at him, the man who had become his mate, his life, his everything.

Aidan had never felt so alive in his life. His wolf howled in pride and joy as he wrapped his arms around his lover the moment the music ended, the dancers having somehow found their way to their chosen partner right before the song ended. The words  _mate_ ,  _lover_ ,  _mine_  ran through his head as he watched blue eyes clear from the haze covering them. Never, not since he first participated in the Dance, had Aidan felt the primal pull to mate and claim so badly. It was as if years of hard-earned aloofness and calm regarding Lupercalia had suddenly vanished, and he was left at his most base level, his instincts in full control. It was all he could do to keep from throwing Dean to the floor and fucking him right there, for all the world to see. Without thinking, he snarled; no, no one would be allowed to see his lover naked save for himself. Dean was too precious to be shared, he was Aidan’s, only Aidan’s, no one else’s, he belonged to  _Aidan_. 

"….Mmm…ground control to Major Tom, Aid, are you there…?" Dean’s soft voice broke through the red haze that was clouding his vision. The Irishman blinked, focusing again on the man in his arms. Dean smiled, leaning forwards to nuzzle their noses together affectionately; he had been a part of enough Lupercalia Dances to know how deeply it could affect you. He was flattered, really, that Aidan would fall so deeply under its spell, because it meant that their bond was truly deep and real.

"Ah…yeah, ‘m here…" The brunet’s voice was quiet as well, and an answering smile formed on his face as well, warmth spreading through him at just how  _right_  this felt. Why had he been so reluctant to do this again? “Next year, we’re doing this alone…”

Dean frowned, a flash of hurt going through his eyes. Had he done something wrong? Had Aidan hated it that much? What was… “What do you mean?”

Aidan laughed, kissing Dean’s forehead reassuringly. “I don’t mean that I don’t want to do this, Deano. It’s just that, well…next year, I’d like to be able to just throw you down by the fireside and have my wicked way with you.” The taller man winked, giggling at the bright red blush that instantly covered his mate’s cheeks.

"You egg! Don’t say that so loud!"

"What? It’s not like they don’t know what we’re going to do once we get home!" 

"Yeah, but I still don’t see why we have to broadcast it! I just want everyone to know you’re my mate and I’m yours and then to forget about what we’re gonna do the rest of the night!"

"And why’s that?" Aidan asked, grinning because he figured he already knew the answer.

"Because you’re mine." Dean said simply, no strange inflections in his voice, no lie or joke in his eyes, just the plain truth as he saw it. "And I’m the only one allowed to think of you naked, writhing, calling out my name as we make love. That’s why." 

Aidan didn’t think he could be any more turned on than he already was, and then Dean went and opened his mouth and made him a million times harder. “…You are, without a doubt, the most sexy, adorable, fucking gorgeous man I’ve ever met, and if you don’t get in our car right now, I really am gonna throw you down in front of the fire and claim you right in front of everyone.”

Dean laughed as he was half-led, half-dragged to the car as the younger man raced for their ride home. Behind them, the bonfire crackled merrily on as grandmother moon shone bright in the dark night sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the Arctic Monkeys song "Dangerous Animals". Thought it would be appropriate~!


End file.
